Conferring of Honorary Degrees at NUI Galway

Friday, 26 June 2009

(Leagan Gaeilge) The conferring of Honorary Degrees took place at NUI Galway today (Friday, 26 June). Those honoured were from the spheres of engineering Liam Connellan, business Brian Joyce, public service Pádraic MacKernan, philanthropy Anna Ó Coinne and education Professor Philip O'Leary.
NUI Galway President, Dr James J. Browne, speaking at the conferring ceremony said: "NUI Galway is fortunate to be associated with many outstanding honorary graduates throughout its history, and those being honoured this year form a particularly distinguished group. Each has been outstanding in their own way, and NUI Galway is very pleased to be in a position to recognise these exceptional individuals".
Liam Connellan
A native of Strokestown, Co Roscommon, Liam Connellan has had a deep involvement in the engineering profession for over forty years and has served as President of the Institution of Engineers of Ireland; was a founding member of the Irish Academy of Engineering and has served as President of the Academy. He also served as the first Chairman of the National Roads Authority from 1994 to 2001, and was President of the Royal Dublin Society from 1995 to 1998.
Liam has been Chairman of companies within the Veolia Environment Group in Ireland and is Chairman of the Energy Institute in the Republic of Ireland. He is a member of the Board of the Peter McVerry Trust which assists homeless young people.
Brian Joyce
Born in Headford, Co. Galway, Brian Joyce, returned to his Alma Mater to collect his honouray degree in recognition of extensive contribution to the world of business.
Brian is a former Chief Executive of Board Bainne and has served as a Board member and Chairman of numerous household name companies. These include the Education Building Society, Allegro, Irish Life, IDA, Tara Meats, Williams Groups, National Hardware, Celtic Anglian Water, Clancourt Holdings, CIÉ and the Mater Private Hospital. Brian continues to influence business in Ireland as he is presently Chairman of Clancourt Holdings and a director of Kingspan.
Brian was the recipient of a Bank of Ireland Alumni Award for Business from NUI Galway in 2008.
Pádraic MacKernan
Pádraic MacKernan was born in Limerick and joined the Department of External Affairs in 1964. He was Vice-Consul of Ireland in Boston from 1965 to 1968 and Deputy Consul-General in New York from 1968 to 1974. Pádraic was successively Counsellor, Assistant Secretary and Political Director in the Department of Foreign Affairs and a regular member of the Irish Delegation to the United Nations until his appointment as Ambassador of Ireland to the United States and Mexico in 1985. Pádraic was appointed Permanent Representative to the European Union in Brussels in 1991 and returned to Dublin as Secretary-General of the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1995. He became Ambassador to France in 2001, a post he held until his retirement in 2005.
Anna Ó Coinne
In 1989, local business woman Anna Ó Coinne became involved in raising funds to finance research into Breast Cancer being pioneered by Professor Fred Given at the National Breast Cancer Research Institute (NBCRI) in Galway.
Working with a voluntary group, Anna became chairperson of the Finance and Planning Committee of the NBCRI. This fund raising group has raised over € 12 million for the NBCRI. Anna's stewardship and attention to detail has allowed the organisation to develop to have an outstanding contribution in the breast cancer research space. During 2010 the Institute will move to a new purpose built Translational Research Centre being constructed by NUI Galway on the grounds of University College Hospital. This project is being financed by major philanthropic donations and includes a major contribution from NBCRI.
Professor Philip O'Leary
Third generation Irish of mostly Munster extraction, Professor Philip O'Leary is currently Professor of English in Boston College which has been to the fore for decades for the excellence of its Irish Studies programme. His work in publishing, promoting and debating Irish Studies was described today as 'gargantuan', and Professor O'Leary was lauded for bringing Modern Gaelic literature to a global audience.
Of particular interest is Professor O'Leary's series on Modern Gaelic literature from 1881 to 1951. This four volume work is 'easily the most ambitious, wide-ranging and comprehensive analysis of Modern Gaelic literature ever undertaken and unlikely to be surpassed'.
Today's graduands join the ranks of previous honorary conferees which include among many others Nelson Mandela, Hilary Clinton, Christy O Connor Snr and Jnr, Enya, Sean Purcell, the late Merv Griffin and Anjelica Huston.